Birds Of A Feather, Flock Together
by Sweetly Sour Roses
Summary: Ino Yamanaka; she was the only daughter of a very famous business owner but no one really cared to know about her so she stayed in the shadows of her father, she made sure that she was saw, and not heard. She wasn't the only one like this though: Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuuga, and Gaara No Sabaku. As much as she'd like to hide, she can't. ( Is a AU )
1. Every Story Has Its' Beginning

Ino blinked her sky blue eyes as she stood a little ways away from her father. This would be the fifth party she had attended over the course of two weeks for her fathers' work. She never liked these little things, there was no purpose to them, in her opinion at least. Unlike what most thought, even though she was the child of a wealthy man she was anything but happy. Ino was aware that she could have anything in the world she wanted, but money could never buy her happiness.

She wanted what money couldn't buy; she wanted time with her father, she wanted love, and most of all, she wanted friends her age.

More than half of the people her father worked with were either too old to have children, their children were already grown adults, or their children were much too young for her taste. The only difference at this party was the fact that there were actually children in her age group here, and just like her, they stayed out of their parents way. She recognized all of them, her father had talked about them to her. He even shown her pictures of their families and told her how each of their families planned to work with her own, not that she had cared all that much. She knew who they were though.

Ino hadn't been dumb enough to ignore her father's whole speech. Hinata Hyuuga: the older sister of Hanabi Hyuuga and the first daughter of Hiashi Hyuuga. Their family was known for their many martial art dojos across the globe. Her father didn't see it, but Ino saw that Hiashi seemed to favor Hinabi over the eldest and was forced to stay quiet. To be pretty, and do as she was told, that was Hinata's job.

Naruto Uzumaki: The only child of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze. His family was famous for their Japanese styled restaurants in over half of the world. Sadly, once again, what went unnoticed by her father was the fact that it seemed that his parents never had the time to even introduce Naruto to their friends and business partners. Honestly, it was quite sad in Ino's eyes. They were the only ones who seemed like they could have been decent parents.

Then there was Sasuke Uchiha, the second and youngest son that Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha. His family was well known for their special olive oil and their gasoline, two of the weirdest things to be known for in Ino's opinion. It would be a lie to say that Mikoto didn't at least try to get their son involved. Fugaku most certainly wasn't one for that and only included their oldest son Itachi in most business matters. It left Sasuke in the shadows just like Hinata, Naruto, Gaara, and herself.

Speaking of Gaara, he was the last and youngest child of three as well as the youngest of the group of teens. His father, Rasa, was a very successful businessman, he was like a modern renaissance man. It seemed as if Gaara was most certainly the one who was the most feared. He was the least favorite of Rasa's children, though, and was forced to hide in the shadows of his oldest sister, Temari, and his older brother, Kankuro. Now, at this very silly party full of uncomfortable dresses and prissy people, she saw them all together making light chit chat with each other.

Ino would never admit it, but it made her feel a little envious of them. She was Ino Yamanaka, she was a woman of class and obedience, her father would be disappointed in her for feeling such a nasty emotion as jealousy.

" _It was not fit for a good child such as yourself_ "

She could hear her father now, she could almost laugh. Turning her baby blue eyes back to her father she felt her stomach drop. Just as she had turned to look at her father, the four that she had been analyzing before were now making their way towards her. What could they possibly want from her? She was half tempted to just walk away and go somewhere else, avoid them completely, but she would be seen as rude.

Their families worked with each other now. Could she really afford to risk her father's business relationships simply because she didn't want to talk with them?

"Ino Yamanaka, am I correct?"

Inot turned to them, a tiny, but fake, smile painting her face. It had been Naruto who had spoken to her first, she nodded.

"Yes, just call me Ino if you'd like. You must be Naruto Uzumaki, a pleasure."

Ino curtseyed in his direction and offered her hand to him to be shaken, which he gave a firm shake with a big grin on his face.

"Nice to meet you.", he told her, she nodded.

"You all must be Hinata Hyuuga, Sasuke Uchiha, and Gaara No Sabaku, it's a pleasure to meet all of you."

She gave a tiny smile as she repeated the same greeting gestures that she had done to Naruto.

"A pleasure, Ino.", came the soft voice of the Hyuuga Lady.

"Hn.", was the only reply she had received from Sasuke.

She only received a silent yet chilly nod from the young red haired Heir known as Gaara.

"What may I assist you with?"

Ino tried her best to be polite, not wanting them to think her rude or snobby.

"We just noticed you were standing alone, and since all of our families will be working together from this point on, we decided that we'd like to get to know you."

Hinata offered a small smile, for some reason what Hinata had said made her a little upset. Would they not had attempted to talk to her had their families not been working together?

"Is it because you four are in the shadows one way or another? Is it because I share that with you that you found the interest to talk to me?"

Ino spoke in a steady tone, concealing her anger. She wasn't one to be around the bush when it came too these things. If she were to take over her father's business when the time came, she would have to be forward and unyielding. Naruto and Hinata blinked in surprised, Sasuke narrowed his eyes, and Garra crossed his arms over his chest with a harden look on his face, yet none of them said anything.

"I'll take that as a yes. Although our families work together now, that doesn't mean that I have to become friends with any of you. I'm much more comfortable in the dark where I can make my father proud. Please excuse me, I must take my leave. "

She hadn't meant to be so harsh. Ino turned to look back at her father who was waving to her. She smiled warmly and waved back to him, everything washing away from her mind now that she had a little bit of his attention.

"You're just saying that."

The voice she heard was raspy, and she once more turned to see that it was Gaara who had spoken this time. She didn't give him another chance to speak and walked away towards her father so she didn't have to hear anything else they had to say on the matter. Ino could feel their hardening gazes on her, but brushed it off. Alerting her father that she was tired, she headed home for the night. The Yamanaka heiress had every intent to forget about the group that attempted to make friends with her.

They only liked her because she was in the same boat as them, nothing more and nothing less. She watched the many cars they drove by flying in a blur. Her mind was stuck on them, and she hated it. Refocusing her eyes she looked at her reflection in the window. They went from her baby blue eyes that burned with the anger of her thoughts, she looked over her fair skin, and her knee long bleach blonde hair that she hung over her right eye while the rest was in a high ponytail.

Turning her eyes from her reflection she looked down at her clothing. She had dressed in a no sleeved royal purple gown that went down to her knees, the skirt itself was a teacup. The top hugged her body and the back of her dress went down until it made it to the middle of her spine and the part that covered her chest was almost heart shaped. Her heels were black and had ribbons that wrapped around her ankles. She had a beautiful rose quartz necklace that her father had gotten her for her birthday, she had worn it ever since.

"M'lady, you're home."

The driver had snapped Ino out of her train of thought and she nodded, "Thank you for driving me home, Belle.

Ino gave her gratitude before she had stepped out. Without a moment to waste she went inside the estate her father and she had called home. The home was elaborate and beautiful and for some reason it always smelled as sweet as a flower.

"I guess it pays to be a lover of flowers."

She muttered to herself as she made her way up the stairs to take a bath, only God knew how much she needed to relax.

"I need to get my mind off of tonight…"

Ino kept muttered as she walked into the bathroom. She filled the bath with slightly hot water and browsed through the many milk baths that she had in her cabinet. She had always bought them on Esty from a person named Luvmilk, she loved the many things that they made and just how wonderful it all smelled. Deciding that she wanted to smell like sweet watermelon and cherry she had chosen Southern Belle and poured it into the water. Once the smell had drifted around the room she turned the water off and began to strip from her clothing.

Her body had been engulfed in the sweet aroma as the milk bath softened her skin to her liking. Ino felt like she was in her grandmother's house in the country, nothing but home cooking and the smell of fresh cut watermelons, she loved it there. It had only been an hour since she had been in the tub did she hear her dog wolf hybrid, Darla, barking up a storm. Ino found it quite odd for her since she was normally so tame no matter who was at the door, so that could only mean one thing: strangers were at her door.


	2. For The First Time In Forever

Heaving a sigh, Ino got out of the bathtub. The water and milk ran down her skin in droplets, she felt angry at whoever was at the door. Who were they to disturb her as she relaxed? Darla was a fierce one, and she would waste no time tearing people to shreds if she deemed them a threat. The blonde wrapped a towel around herself and made her way to the door.

It was probably one of those people who would ask her about if she knew God or not, she disliked those people. The only part of her that had dried on her walk down had been her legs.

"Darla, down girl."

Ino commanded the animal softly as she reached a hand out and began to scratch the black furred creature on the head. It's amber eyes blinking almost as if in confusion, but listened nonetheless. Ino smiled at her before giving a serious look toward the door, there was a loud round of knocking on the door. With a single heave of a sigh she opened the door just a bit and peered out

"Hello?"

She called out, expecting to hear someone ask about God.

"Glad to see you're still up."

Came a voice that Ino had never expected to hear, more like she didn't want to hear. As she should have done before she turned on the lights only to see the same four that she had left at the party standing at her door, uncertain looks on almost all of their faces. Gaara was the only one who hadn't changed his face, but there was a tiny smirk there. She glared at them, not that they could really see it.

"What do you want? The party isn't over until midnight and it's barely hit nine."

She began to question them, holding her towel even closer around her body. She heard Darla snarl and this time she didn't stop her.

"The party isn't much of our thing…"

Naruto gave a tiny laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's not like we're actually wanted there anyway."

Sasuke spat angrily, his eyes narrowing in distaste. Ino kept her glare but sighed, could she really turn them away at this point? She hadn't noticed it before, but it was freezing cold outside and they only had on their party attire.

"It's freezing cold outside. You can come in, but I need to get dressed."

Ino opened the door and allowed them to walk in, Darla, on the other hand, began barking at them angrily.

"Darla, down!", Ino commanded the canine.

Naruto and Hinata seemed frightened, as they had jumped back a little bit, Sasuke's eyes opened a bit in surprise, and Gaara seemed unphased by the dog. His glare seem to get the pup to settle down a bit. Ino sighed and locked the door.

"Go lay down, Darla."

Ino scolded the canine, who whined but none the less had done as she was told.

"You can sit down on the couch, I should be down in a minute.", she informed her unwanted guest and rushed up the stairs and into her bedroom.

Ino quickly dried off and used the same scented lotion as her milk bath before putting on a black strapless bra with black underwear to match. She had pulled a knee long cream colored silk nightgown on and placed on a pair of cozy white slippers before she walked back downstairs with her arms crossed over her chest.

"How long do you all intend to be here?"

She had never had people over this time of night, much less people her age with her father not being around. The only other time that something like this had happened was when Ino had been around five, but that friendship had ended long before it even had the chance to bloom. They all looked at one another before turning back to her, making her feel uncomfortable.

"We actually came to talk to you.", Naruto started first.

All traces of his playfulness had gone, it made Ino a little weirded out. Really having no other choice but to hear them out, she sat down on the table a little ways away from the couch in which all four sat on.

"I'm waiting…"

Ino put her hands on the table as she sat with her legs crossed,

"What is so important that you had to show up to my house in the freezing cold?"

She was honestly curious, not that she would admit it. It couldn't be money they wanted, they already have that, but she couldn't think of anything else they could possible want. She highly doubted it was for flowers or for everyday chit chat.

"We'd like to be friends with you.",

Hinata was the one to speak up this time,

"After all, birds of a feather do flock together, don't you think?", she asked hopefully.

Ino admired her soft smile, enjoying the innocence that the Hyuuga possessed, and began to look them all over.

The boys all shared a similar black suit but with different colored ties. Naruto sported red, Sasuke had grey, and Gaara wore navy blue, but she admired Hinata's dress. It made her wonder how the blonde haired female hadn't noticed it the first time. it was snow white, her sleeves dropped down to where her shoulders were exposed and the rest of her arms were bare. It was a fitting dress made of silk and cotton, the back went to her ankles while the front went a little under her knees, and she wore a pair of black flats.

"Why?"

It was all that Ino really could ask them. Why would they think that just because birds of a feather flock together? Birds could be alone too.

"What are you hoping to achieve from this friendship?", she asked them sternly.

Ino wasn't up for being treated as some type of accessory that they could use whenever they saw fit. She wouldn't allow such a thing to happen. Never again.

"Birds of a feather, flock together.", Gaara answered with his arms crossed as if it was the simplest question to answer. It, however, only furthered her frustration with them.

"You're just like us. Told to stand by and look pretty, but no one dares to approach someone like us, do they?", he explained further.

Ino blinked in surprise before looking down at her lap.

"No…"

He was right, no one had ever approached her before. The attention had been, and always had been, on her father. Was it really that shocking thought? It wasn't her who people were making business deals with, it was her father. She noticed that their was both fear and butterflies in her stomach.

Would this friendship do the same thing that it had before, would it die before it even had the chance to bloom? Moving her hands to her lap she held them together. She was nervous.

"We've all had our friendships that didn't turn out the way we wanted them too, the way we planned, but ours will be different. We're all basically like family.", Naruto spoke up.

"We're not here to hurt you.", Sasuke added on seriously.

"We know exactly what it's like, and we don't want you to be alone anymore. We want to become close to you.", in came Hinata's tiny voice.

Ino stayed silent and just kept looking them all over, mulling over her choices. She could become their friends, but that didn't mean that things couldn't go wrong. Anything could happen, luck normally wasn't on Ino's side, so why would she be now? What difference would it make now? Hinata made a sudden movement and Ino's eyes snapped in the girls direction, she had her pinky out.

"I pinky promise.", she gave a sweet smile.

Ino felt the butterflies in her stomach go on a rampage, as if they wanted her to accept the promise and to go for it. Could she, though?

Ino hesitant and just as she was about to pick her hand up the others had placed their pinkies out too.

"Don't leave me out of this!", Naruto grinned while also using his other hand to give her a thumbs up.

"If this is what it takes.", Sasuke shrugged.

"Welcome to our crazy little family, Ino Yamanaka. We hope you'll enjoy your stay.", Gaara welcomed her with a warm smirk.

Ino finally felt a little hope enter her heart and one by one she linked her pinkie with theirs. She felt like a child again, but perhaps that was the point of it. That child like innocence behind it, maybe that was what was making her hopeful. Sure, Ino wasn't sure that she could trust them completely, but their pinky promise was enough for her to start with.

"It...a promise…", she muttered softly.

A smile, a real genuine smile, painted her lips.

"There isn't much we can do at night, it being late and all. How would you all like to watch some movies with me?", Ino asked shyly, unsure of what else to.

The others laughed at her, it made her blush. Had she done something wrong?

"Sounds like a great idea, who's up for some good ole horror movie?", Naruto asked excitedly.

"As if you could actually handle it, dobe.", Sasuke snickered.

Naruto glared at him with a sour face while Hinata and Ino laughed while Gaara rolled his eyes with a smirk.

"Since Ino's new to our group, why don't we watch something that she likes first?", Hinata suggested.

"We've always done that.", Gaara chuckled.

Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment with a smile while Sasuke gave a knowing smirk. Ino looked around her in thought, a small smile on her face. She could lean towards Naruto's idea just a bit and watch either Mardock Scramble or Akira, but she had planned to watch Paprika and The Garden Of Words tonight. It left her at a crossroad, just what could they watch that could be of interest to them all?

"How about The Garden Of Words?.", came Ino's voice after a moment of silence.

The others looked at one another before smiling brightly at Ino once they had met her gaze once more. It made her blush in embarrassment. Why did they always have to smile at her like that?

Even though Ino had blinked in confusion it was a common understanding to her that they were happy about what was going on. Even as they watched the movie she couldn't help but still have butterflies in her stomach. They all laid down on one another as if they were all pillows as they watched the movie. It was quiet as they watched, they didn't even need any popcorn or drinks until the third movie, which had been Summer Wars, courtesy of Hinata. Since it had been Ino's home, she was the one who made it.

Gaara, however, had offered to help her carry it. It was by Naruto's pleading that three large bags of popcorn be made. Ino carried the drinks while Gaara carried the popcorn. It was quiet as they walked, but for once in her life it wasn't uncomfortable. Gaara didn't seem as cold as many people tried to make him out to be.

Truth be told, he was a lot nicer than most had made him out to be, and even if they weren't full smiles, Gaara tended to smirk a lot. Even now, it was the redhead who had broken the calming silence between them.

"Would you like to hang out with us tomorrow?", he asked as they walked.

Ino blinked as she looked his way, she hadn't expected them to want to hang out so soon. Maybe it was a good thing, perhaps it was rushed, she wasn't sure.

"I wouldn't mind it, but where do you plan on going going?", she asked him, taking a piece of popcorn and tossing it into her mouth.

"Roller skating, it's how we kick off our celebrations.", he told her, she nodded.

"What's the occasion?"

It was nowhere near a holiday, so Ino couldn't help but think that maybe it was one of their birthdays, she just didn't know who.

"A new member in the group."

Gaara said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world, it made her blush.

"Do you only do it for celebrations?", she looked over at him again.

Instead of looking foward he met her gaze

"It's a thing we do on the weekend for the hell of it sometimes, but for the most part, it's for celebrations.", he chuckled.

Ino nodded and wandered her thoughts the whole time after that, thinking about what they would be doing tomorrow. It would be a saturday so her father would be working most of the day despite only coming home at twelve. Movie night had went on as it had before except with the crunching of popcorn and laughter at a few moments in the movie but none the less it went well.

"It's going on eleven thirty guys, maybe we should go home and get some rest? We're going to need all the energy we can get.", yawned as he stood up and stretched.

The others nodded, each looking drowsy and ready for a good night's rest.

"I guess we did stay up pretty late.", Ino gave a tiny laugh as she stood to her feet, cracking her neck.

Darla, who had joined them not to far into the first movie, followed suit.

"Bring it on in guys!"

Ino was confused on what the other blonde was trying to do until she had been pulled into a large group hug. It wasn't something she was use to, but by no means was she rejecting the action. They all hugged it out before each of her guest had left to return to their own homes. She found herself in her bed trying to sleep she couldn't help but feel giddy. It seemed like in the first time in forever she would be doing something other than staying home and helping around the house.

For the first time in forever she would be with people her own age, experiencing all that she could. She wanted to spend more time with them now, but paced herself. It was more than alright to be happy, but less than alright to get her hopes to high. Ino knew the phrase the higher you are the harder you'll fall a little too personally. She hadn't gone roller skating in such a long time, she wondered if she could still do it after all this time.

Nonetheless, Ino kept her mind open, willing to accept anything that would happen. Darla laid at the end of Ino's bed, and crawled up so that she could lay next to her mistress, receiving a good scratch behind her ear.

"Let's just hope they're right when they say birds of a feather flock together, I don't want to wither anymore, I want to bloom…"

Ino muttered as she gave tthe canine a pat on the head before closing her baby blue eyes, allowing sleep to hold her in it's arms.


End file.
